Rivalry? Stuart Cramer eager for breakthrough in matchup with South Point

Richard Walker Gazette staff JRWalk22

Wednesday

Sep 12, 2018 at 8:23 AMSep 12, 2018 at 8:51 AM

Hurricane Florence forces game to move from Friday to Thursday in matchup South Point has won comfortably in four previous meetings

CRAMERTON - When Stuart Cramer High School was built 3.1 miles away from South Point High School, a natural athletic rivalry was born.

But after four meetings on the football field, upstart Cramer has yet to beat the state power Red Raiders - and hasn't been close.

Could that change this season as the Storm enters the game with a 4-0 record and South Point enters with a 2-2 record?

The incoming Hurricane Florence has already created a distraction with a storm powerful enough to move the game up one day from Friday to Thursday night at 7 p.m.

While rain could be in the forecast, the teams will look to show continued improvement in the non-league contest.

"It has felt like a rivalry since I've been here," said Stuart Cramer head coach Ben McMillan, who coached at rival Forestview for eight years before becoming the Storm's first head football coach in 2013. "Certainly, so many of our kids go to middle school with their kids and they all know each other."

That familiarity thus far has seemed to stir up South Point more.

When the teams were Big South 2A/3A Conference rivals in 2014 and 2015, the Red Raiders won 75-0 and 56-0, respectively.

With Cramer remaining in the Big South 3A and South Point moving on to the Southwestern 2A in 2016, a 62-0 Red Raiders' win followed.

Last year, South Point won again 41-14 but the Storm broke into the scoring column with a third quarter touchdown pass from Luke Carpenter to Kendall Karr.

McMillan said there was no satisfaction at ending South Point's unanswered scoring streak in the rivalry at 215 points.

"I wasn't too excited about that," McMillan said. "We lost the game. And we wanted to win the game."

This season, Cramer has standout players like Carpenter and Karr back from the Storm's first team to win a postseason game.

That continued a trend of improvement Cramer has extended each year since it opened.

In 2013, the Storm fielded a junior varsity team that won three games.

In 2014, Cramer fielded a varsity team for the first team and went 1-10 overall.

In 2015, the Storm went 5-6 with a 2-5 conference record that left it one win shy of the playoffs.

In 2016, Cramer went 7-5 and advanced to the playoffs for the first time.

And last season, the Storm went 8-5 and won a postseason game before being eliminated in the second round by eventual state champion Charlotte Catholic.

In some ways, Stuart Cramer's birth has the misfortune of coming at a time with South Point's program was as powerfule as it's ever been.

The Red Raiders have won 10 or more games 10 times in the last 11 seasons with two state titles, one state runner-up finish and two other trips to the Western finals. Since Cramer opened in 2013, the Red Raiders have been 60-14 overall and 15-4 in the playoffs.

This season, Cramer is off to a 3-0 start with wins over Lincolnton, Mountain Island Charter and East Gaston and is coming off a bye week. South Point lost its opener to Crest, then beat Lincolnton and Forestview before losing last week at Clover.

"I think it was a good break for us," McMillan said. "We had some guys banged up and they've gotten healed up."

Carpenter has completed 21 of 39 passes for 382 yards with six touchdowns and one interception for the Storm offense. Running back Tyreese Morris has rushed for 499 yards and five touchdowns. Karr has caught nine passes for 226 yards and three touchdowns. And Devan Polk (24 tackles) and T.J. Leake (22) lead a gang-tackling defense.

Perhaps because of the bye week, McMillan says the Storm dealt with the uncertainty of the this week favorably.

"I'd be ready to play today," McMillan said on Monday. "But we'll be ready and the big thing for both schools was to get the game in. For us, conference play starts for us next week."

Richard Walker: 704-869-1843; twitter.com/jrwalk22

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